Internet Service for Passengers on In-Flight Airplanes

1. A method that provides Internet Protocol (IP) devices of passengers of an in-flight airplane with terrestrial Internet IP communications comprising the steps of: identifying a first airplane in a group of at least two in-flight airplanes as a ground link airplane, where each airplane in the group is traveling in a substantially linear direction, the ground link airplane having a first two-way radio frequency communication link with a ground station located on the earth; maintaining for each airplane in the group a second and third two-way radio frequency communication link with an adjacent fore and aft airplane in the group, respectively, if such an adjacent airplane exists, where the second and third two-way radio frequency communication links support inter-airplane IP communications via unidirectional fore and all radio frequency radiation patterns centered about the substantially linear direction; transferring IP-based information of the IP devices of the passengers on each in-flight airplane in the group using the second and third two-way radio frequency communication links by daisy chain transfer through each adjacent airplane to the ground link airplane; transferring, by the ground link airplane, the IP-based information of the IP devices of the passengers to the ground station via the first two-way radio frequency communication link, where the ground station is connected to the terrestrial Internet and couples the IP-based information to the terrestrial internet.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first two-way radio frequency communication link between the ground link airplane and the ground station does not traverse a communication satellite.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein a communication satellite in not used in the communications among the airplanes in the group or with communications with the ground station.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of determining whether the first airplane identified as the ground link airplane remains best suited among the airplanes in the group to serve as the ground link airplane, and upon determining that another airplane of the group is best suited to serve as the ground link airplane, identifying the another airplane as the ground link airplane and transmitting a message to the other airplanes in the group that identifies the another airplane as being the ground link airplane.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of determining whether the ground link airplane is fore or aft of each of the other airplanes in the group, wherein the transferring of the IP-based information of the IP devices of the passengers on each in-flight airplane in the group by daisy chain transfer is through adjacent airplanes in the determined fore or aft direction to the ground link airplane.

6. Apparatus disposed aboard a first airplane for supporting Internet Protocol (IP) communications with devices of passengers while in-flight with terrestrial Internet, the apparatus comprising: means for receiving IP packets originated by passenger devices aboard the first airplane and for transmitting IP packets to the passenger devices aboard the first airplane; first and second radio frequency transceivers on the first airplane associated with respective aft and fore unidirectional antennae; one of the first and second transceivers using the respective aft and fore unidirectional antenna with radio frequency radiation patterns centered about a substantially linear direction to establish an inter-airplane communication link with another in-flight airplane that is respectively aft or fore of the first airplane, where the first airplane and the another airplane define a group of in-flight airplanes where each airplane in the group is traveling in the substantially linear direction; a router coupled to the means for receiving and transmitting IP packets, and to the first and second transceivers for distributing IP packets; the router sending outbound IP packets having a terrestrial internet address received from the means for receiving IP packets to the one of the first and second transceivers which transmits the outbound IP packets via the inter-airplane communication link to the another airplane to be relayed to by the another airplane to the terrestrial internet; the one of the first and second transceivers receiving inbound packets having an IP address of a device of passenger on the first airplane via the inter-airplane communication link from the another airplane where the inbound packets originated from the terrestrial internet; the one of the first and second transceivers transmitting the inbound packets to the router which sends the inbound IP packets to the means for transmitting IP packets to the passenger devices for transmission to the passenger device with the IP address of the inbound packets.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 further comprising a third transceiver associated with an earth oriented antenna where the third transceiver is coupled to the router and is in direct communication with a ground station to facilitate IP communications between passenger devices on the first airplane and the terrestrial Internet coupled to the ground station.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein the aft and fore unidirectional antennae have a beam bandwidth of 10 degrees centered about the substantially linear direction.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the aft and fore unidirectional antennae with the beam bandwidth of 10 degrees centered about the substantially linear direction provides fore and aft communication links that are limited to the another in-flight airplanes in the same substantially linear direction.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the unidirectional fore and aft radio frequency radiation patterns have a beam bandwidth of 10 degrees centered about the substantially linear direction.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the unidirectional fore and all radio frequency radiation patterns with the beam bandwidth of 10 degrees centered about the substantially linear direction provides fore and aft communication links that are limited to airplanes in the group that are traveling in the same substantially linear direction as the first airplane.